The T & T Clark Blog

Author Interview - Adam D. Hensley on 'Covenant Relationships and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter'

In anticipation of the publication of Covenant Relationships and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, one of the latest volumes in the long running and cutting-edge Library of Hebrew and Old Testament Studies series, Dr. Adam D. Hensley delves deeper into the origins and research of his book.

1. How would you describe your book in one sentence?

A direct and methodical investigation of editorial perspective in the Psalter regarding the relationship between the Davidic and premonarchic covenants.

2. What drew to you writing about this subject?

Having expressed some interest in studying OT postexilic literature, one of my graduate school professors suggested I might look into the growing field of Psalter studies. While scholarly opinion varied—and still varies—on the extent to which the Psalter constitutes a “book” with a single “narrative,” it nonetheless seemed clear to me that the Psalter was new and relatively unexplored territory for examining the theology and hopes of the postexilic period.

I was especially intrigued by what the Psalter’s arrangement might reveal on the question of messianic expectation and covenant theology. Did postexilic editors see the covenants as theological alternatives or characterized by an essential unity and continuity? Was the substance of their hopes limited to the temple theocracy they already knew, or was a future king central to those hopes and to the renewal of the covenant? Was the Davidic covenant really seen as “failed” as Gerald H. Wilson contended? Did they really “democratize” the Davidic covenant by construing God’s promises to the house of David in terms of the people directly without any meaningful role for human kingship in their realization? Or did they view covenant history culminating in restored kingship after all, through which God’s covenant people might be renewed and God’s covenant promises fulfilled? To be sure, there were no shortage of opinions about such questions in the literature, but also no direct investigations of “covenant relationships” with a methodology up to the task.

3. How long have you been researching it? How did you come to study it?

Early in 2010 I picked up a book titled The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, by Gerald H. Wilson. I was amazed by Wilson’s many observations in the Psalter and parallels with ancient anthologies. But I noticed that, like many studies that have followed it, Wilson’s approach presupposed answers to questions that it failed to address directly. One of those questions was especially foundational: how those who compiled the Psalter perceived covenant history, especially how they understood the Davidic covenant in relation to the premonarchic covenants.

4. What does your book focus on that hasn’t been explored elsewhere?

My book offers a fresh re-evaluation of editorial evidence in the Psalter, and in the process sheds light on some puzzling features of the Psalter. For example, it offers a new accounting of how editors understood 72:20 (“The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended”) in view of subsequent Davidic psalms. What’s more, the main thesis explored in the book offers a new perspective on why Asaph Ps 50 is separated from the main Asaph group (73–83).

By offering a thorough survey of the Psalter’s references and allusions to “covenant” that spans four chapters, it also presents a fuller picture of the covenant profile of the Psalter than previously accessible. This survey work goes beyond the term berit to include intertextual allusions to major entailments of the biblical covenants while taking account of editorial considerations.

Building on the work of Jamie A. Grant and others who have demonstrated the Psalter’s idealized depiction of kingship (cf. Deut 17:14–20), my book examines other aspects of the Psalter’s editorial perspective on kingship that have been overlooked or under-appreciated. For example, it explores David as an intercessor between YHWH and people/nations and thereby central to covenant renewal. It also examines a proposed typological relationship between Moses and David in the Psalms: David as a “New Moses” who leads the world in a “new song” of thanksgiving for YHWH’s new, exodus-like redemption of his people. In the process the book offers fresh insights on the structural and theological profiles of Books II–V.

We are very grateful to Adam D. Hensley for taking part in this interview!

Covenant Relationships and the Editing of the Hebrew Psalter is available for pre-order now, and is due for release on 17th May 2018.

T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology

I am delighted to announce that Philip G. Ziegler, Professor of Christian Dogmatics at the University of Aberdeen, UK, has joined the Editorial Board for the T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology (TSST) series. Ordained in the United Church of Canada, he has held previous academic posts at Princeton University and the Atlantic School of Theology. He is widely published in the field of systematic theology, ethics and Christian doctrine.

T&T Clark Studies in Systematic Theology is a series of monographs in the field of Christian doctrine, with a particular focus on constructive engagement with major topics through historical analysis or contemporary restatement.

Founding Board members Professor Ivor Davidson (University of Aberdeen, UK) and Professor Ian A. McFarland (University of Cambridge, UK) look forward to continuing their work on the TSST series with Philip Ziegler. We will be announcing new titles for the series in due course, please follow the link below to browse existing publications in the series

http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/search?q=t%26t+clark+studies+in+systematic+theology&Gid=1

T&T Cornerstone: Jesus: Miriam's Child, Sophia's Prophet, by Elisabeth Schussler-Fiorenza

Our last Cornerstone to cover out of this batch. Expect more wonderful titles in 2016. Do come and find the books at SBLAAR at booth 600. They look *stunning* and they are also available in EPDF and EPUB for the first time ever.

In Jesus: Miriam's Child, Sophia's Prophet Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza makes a unique contribution to two quite different discussions of Jesus the Christ. On the one hand, she looks at biblical Christology from a critical feminist perspective in the tradition of liberation theology. On the other, she examines the feasibility of a feminine Christology by considering such problems as Christian anti-Judaism, ideological justification of domination, religious exclusivism and the formation of patriarchal identity. Re-imagining the Jesus movement in a feminist key transcends the boundaries set by history, gender and doctrine. By assessing various Jesus traditions and interpretations in terms of whether they can engender liberating visions for today, Schüssler Fiorenza seeks to challenge and transform a Christianity dominated by masculinity and exclusivist theological frameworks so that it offers a vision of justice and well-being for all, the central image in which is the reign, the coming world, of God. This Cornerstones edition features a new extended introduction which takes into account the developments in the field since the work was originally published in 1994.

 Reviews of the new edition:

“This is a most welcome reissue of Schüssler Fiorenza's groundbreaking work. With analysis of women's experience as the starting point, Schüssler Fiorenza uses vivid images such as "into the hill country," and "the open road to Galilee," to invite readers into new spaces where images of Christ in the Scriptures can be explored from a different perspective and christological discourses can be reconceptualized toward liberating practice. For those willing to embark on the journey with her, the destination is no less than global well-being.” –  Barbara E. Reid, Catholic Theological Union, USA

“In this new edition of her deep and influential book, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza continues her singuar retrieval of the bibilcal figure of Sophia for contemporary theology. As this book demonstrates, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza has for many of us herself become a Sophia figure of our period continuously contributing her wisdom over and over again.” –  David Tracey, The University of Chicago Divinity School, USA

T&T Cornerstone: Messianism Among Jews and Christians

It is wonderful to have this volume from the great William Horbury in Cornerstones, especially as Horbury’s new introduction provides a sweeping overview of the material and draws the reader’s attention to his close observation of sources and texts. Here’s the blurb:

William Horbury considers the issue of messianism as it arises in Jewish and Christian tradition. Whilst Horbury's primary focus is the Herodian period and the New Testament, he presents a broader historical trajectory, looking back to the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, and onward to Judaism and Christianity in the Roman empire. Within this framework Horbury treats such central themes as messianism in the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, the Son of man and Pauline hopes for a new Jerusalem, and Jewish and Christian messianism in the second century.

Neglected topics are also given due consideration, including suffering and messianism in synagogue poetry, and the relation of Christian and Jewish messianism with conceptions of the church and of antichrist and with the cult of Christ and of the saints. Throughout, Horbury sets messianism in a broader religious and political context and explores its setting in religion and in the conflict of political theories.

 

Reviews:

“These studies form a substantial and impressive body [...] Examining a wide range of material some of it relatively obscure or little known, Horbury deftly demonstrates underlying messianic themes and undertones that would normally be hidden from a casual or less focussed reading.” –  Susan Pierce, Journal of Beiefs and Values, Vol. 25

“There is very much that is valuable in the essays. Horbury is a keen reader of texts, and he has read from an assortment of literatures that for most of us are separated by the boundaries of academic disciplines or linguistic competence.” –  W. A. Meeks, Jewish Quarterly Review

William Horbury considers the issue of messianism as it arises in Jewish and Christian tradition. Whilst Horbury's primary focus is the Herodian period and the New Testament, he presents a broader historical trajectory, looking back to the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, and onward to Judaism and Christianity in the Roman empire. Within this framework Horbury treats such central themes as messianism in the Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, the Son of man and Pauline hopes for a new Jerusalem, and Jewish and Christian messianism in the second century.

Neglected topics are also given due consideration, including suffering and messianism in synagogue poetry, and the relation of Christian and Jewish messianism with conceptions of the church and of antichrist and with the cult of Christ and of the saints. Throughout, Horbury sets messianism in a broader religious and political context and explores its setting in religion and in the conflict of political theories. This new edition features a new extended introduction which updates and resituates the volume within the context of current scholarship. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/messianism-among-jews-and-christians-9780567662750/#sthash.p6d68ml5.dpuf

T&T Cornerstone: Neither Jew Nor Greek by Judith Lieu

A ground-breaking study in the formation of early Christian identity, by one of the world's leading scholars. In Neither Jew Nor Greek, Judith Lieu explores the formation and shaping of early Christian identity within Judaism and within the wider Graeco-Roman world in the period before 200 C.E.

Lieu particularly examines the way that literary texts presented early Christianity. She combines this with interdisciplinary historical investigation and interaction with scholarship on Judaism in late Antiquity and on the Graeco-Roman world.The result is a highly significant contribution to four of the key questions in current New Testament scholarship: how did early Christian identity come to be formed? How should we best describe and understand the processes by which the Christian movement became separate from its Jewish origins? Was there anything special or different about the way women entered Judaism and early Christianity? How did martyrdom contribute to the construction of early Christian identity?

The chapters in this volume have become classics in the study of the New Testament and for this Cornerstones edition Lieu provides a new introduction placing them within the academic debate as it is now. –

 

Reviews:

“[A] wonderfully learned volume, Judith Lieu's capacity to hold together biblical, Jewish and patrisitc material commands respect, and she is an authority on the borderland between early Christianity and Judaism” –  Stuart G. Hall, Former Professor of Ecclesiastical History at King's College, London, UK

“Anyone interested in early Christian origins would be well advised to read this text. Lieu is a very careful biblical historian, marshaling a range of evidence while also able to acknowledge the limitations and ambiguity of some of this evidence.” –  Mary Coloe, Australian Catholic University, Australia

 

 

T&T Cornerstone: Ancient Israel by Niels Peter Lemche

 

When Ancient Israel was first published, Lemche presented a new model of how we should understand Israelite society, its history and its religion. Lemche argues first that 'Israel' was the result of a social development among the Canaanite population of Palestine in the second half of the second millennium BCE. Lemche's radical reassessment of Israelite history is based on the conviction that the Old Testament contains hardly any historical sources older than the seventh century BCE. The early history of Israel must therefore be reconstructed from archaeological results and non-biblical evidence, not from the Old Testament. In this new Cornerstones edition Lemche provides an extensive new introduction and bibliography, considering how the field has developed since the work first appeared.

 

Reviews:

“When it first appeared, Lemche's Ancient Israel was the first of a new generation of Iron age histories, with its insistence on a sociological rather than theological approach, its rejection of the 'rationalistic biblical paraphrases', (as Lemche felicitously termed what had gone before). If some features of this new approach were already being anticipated, Lemche provided the first synthesis, laying the foundation for the current agenda. In this new edition, some of his own modifications and developments of that agenda are also reviewed. It remains an excellent foundation for historical research into the Hebrew Bible.” –  Philip Davies, University of Sheffield, UK

“When it was first published, this best-selling introductory textbook on the history of ancient Israel stood at the cusp of the departure from a history based on a rational paraphrase of the Bible and the construction of the critical, archaeologically based history of Palestine which is dominant today. Rooted in a social science-based perspective of Palestine's ancient past, Lemche based himself in the rapidly changing perspectives of Israel and Judah's histories of the decade preceding his textbook and set a firm foundation for the critical histories of the present.” –  Thomas L. Thompson, Professor emeritus, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

T&T Cornerstone: Solidarity and Difference by David G. Horrell

It’s great to have David Horrell’s Solidarity and Difference in Cornerstones. It’s seminal work that was really ahead of its time in terms of study of NT ethics and identity and it’s wonderful to be able to present it again with Horrell’s reflective introduction and a substantial foreword by N.T. Wright. Indeed, Wright has described the book as; “One of the most creative and innovative books about Paul I have ever read.” –  N. T. Wright, Paul and His Recent Interpreters, 2015

In the book Horrell presents a study of Pauline ethics, examining how Paul's moral discourse envisages and constructs communities in which there is a strong sense of solidarity but also legitimate difference in various aspects of ethical practice. Horrell reads New Testament texts with an explicit awareness of contemporary ethical theory, and assesses Paul's contribution as a moral thinker in the context of modern debate.

Using a framework indebted to the social sciences, as well as to contemporary ethical theory, Horrell examines the construction of community in Paul's letters, the notions of purity, boundaries and identity, Paul's attempts to deal with diversity in his churches, the role of imitating Christ in Paul's ethics, and the ethic Paul develops for interaction with 'outsiders'. This Cornerstones edition includes an extended reflective introduction and a substantial foreword from N.T. Wright.

Here are two more wonderful endorsements:

“In a global, pluralist, fractured world, may Christians hope to find a healing and hopeful word in - of all places - the letters of Paul, themselves centers of controversy and division from the beginning? Horrell answers with a resounding "Yes", After a penetrating analysis and critique of the polarized conversation among ethicists in recent decades, he proposes a new, "third way" to find a model in Paul for communities that embrace the other without losing their identity.” –  Wayne A. Meeks, Yale University, USA

“This is a bold and highly stimulating intellectual experiment...Through close study of key texts and carefully reasoned debates across multiple disciplines, Horrell reconfigures the Pauline ethic and opens it up to dialogue with public morality as never before. Both New Testament scholars and ethicists will welcome this ground-breaking work.” –  John Barclay, Durham University, UK

T&T Cornerstone: Fragmented Women by J. Cheryl Exum

It would be an understatement to say how thrilled we are to have Cheryl Exum's 'Fragmented Women' in our Cornerstones series. It is written with a true deftness of touch and the new preface that Exum has added to the volume continues in that vein and introduces the book to new readers by highlighting exactly the subtleties required in reading biblical texts.

Here are some reviews of the book:

“Cheryl Exum is remarkable for the subtlety of her interpretations. A fine literary sensibility combines with psychoanalytic finesse and an intense feminist commitment. She is very good at playing biblical characters off against each other: Bathsheba and the Levite's concubine, Jephthah's daughter and Michal. She is concerned with the androcentric agenda of the narrators, and how it may be subverted both by the text and the resistant reader. Does the depiction of rape repeat the crime or question it? For Exum, it does both; the male reader is both complicit and absolved. These brilliant, interconnected readings are as timely now as when they were first published.” –  Francis Landy, University of Alberta, Canada

“This book is a model of mature, balanced, well considered feminist criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Exum deliberately steps out of both the ideology of the text and the confines of religious exegesis, reading the biblical text as a cultural artifact, with the tools of cultural as well as traditional bible criticism. She analyses afresh fragments of biblical stories about women that are embedded in stories about men. In so doing, she affords her readers new insights and angles for understanding the texts and their influence. And by bringing the stories together, Exum manages to defragment the women, at least a little. And this is no mean achievement.” –  Athalya Brenner-Idan, Professor emerita, Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands

“Cheryl Exum is remarkable for the subtlety of her interpretations. A fine literary sensibility combines with psychoanalytic finesse and an intense feminist commitment. She is very good at playing biblical characters off against each other: Bathsheba and the Levite's concubine, Jephthah's daughter and Michal. She is concerned with the androcentric agenda of the narrators, and how it may be subverted both by the text and the resistant reader. Does the depiction of rape repeat the crime or question it? For Exum, it does both; the male reader is both complicit and absolved. These brilliant, interconnected readings are as timely now as when they were first published.” –  Francis Landy, University of Alberta, Canada

“This book is a model of mature, balanced, well considered feminist criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Exum deliberately steps out of both the ideology of the text and the confines of religious exegesis, reading the biblical text as a cultural artifact, with the tools of cultural as well as traditional bible criticism. She analyses afresh fragments of biblical stories about women that are embedded in stories about men. In so doing, she affords her readers new insights and angles for understanding the texts and their influence. And by bringing the stories together, Exum manages to defragment the women, at least a little. And this is no mean achievement.” –  Athalya Brenner-Idan, Professor emerita, Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands

- See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/fragmented-women-9780567662958/#sthash.qGPIxxc4.dpuf

T&T Cornerstone: Pentateuch: A Social Science Commentary by John Van Seters

"Everyone reads Van Seters on Pentateuch...everyone reads Van Seters on J" is a phrase that is actually quite often heard. And we've just made the task easier for everyone.

In this magisterial overview of the Pentateuch John Van Seters reviews the various historical-critical attempts to read it that arise from notions about the social evolution of Israel's religion and culture. For the new Cornerstones edition Van Seters has extensively revised several sections of the text, updating and integrating new bibliographical items, and refining the text where necessary. A reflective preface summarizes these changes and developments for the reader's convenience.

‘John Van Seters has been at the forefront of Pentateuchal studies since the 1970s. Indeed, he is largely responsible for the direction taken by this subdiscipline in the last quarter century before the turn of the millennium, when this book was first published. This new edition reaffirms Van Seters classic positions and responds to developments in Pentateuchal studies over the last fifteen years. It is a most welcome contribution to the continuing debate over this challenging section of the bible from one of the field’s long-term leaders.’ – Steve McKenzie, Rhodes College, USA

T&T Cornerstone: The Israelite Woman by SBL President, Athalya Brenner-Idan

The first of our Cornerstones that we are profiling is by none other than current SBL president Athalya Brenner-Idan.

In the first edition of The Israelite Woman Athalya Brenner-Idan provided the first book-length treatment by a feminist biblical scholar of the female characters in the Hebrew Bible. Now, thirty years later, Brenner provides a fresh take on this ground-breaking work, considering how scholarly observation of female biblical characters has changed and how it has not. Brenner-Idan also provides a new and highly personal introduction to the book, which details, perhaps surprisingly to present readers, what was at stake for female biblical scholars looking to engage honestly in the academic debate at the time in which the book was first written. This will make difficult reading for some, particularly those whose own views have not changed. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-israelite-woman-9780567657732/#sthash.sPkkDHFZ.dpuf

In the first edition of The Israelite Woman Athalya Brenner-Idan provided the first book-length treatment by a feminist biblical scholar of the female characters in the Hebrew Bible. Now, thirty years later, Brenner provides a fresh take on this ground-breaking work, considering how scholarly observation of female biblical characters has changed and how it has not. Brenner-Idan also provides a new and highly personal introduction to the book, which details, perhaps surprisingly to present readers, what was at stake for female biblical scholars looking to engage honestly in the academic debate at the time in which the book was first written. This will make difficult reading for some, particularly those whose own views have not changed.

“A wonderful book - concise, thoughtful, and as much an introduction to the Hebrew Bible as a whole as a reflection of the place of women within it. Athalya is very attentive to detail, and comprehensive - she provides a rich spectrum of the social roles of women, and a survey of literary schemata concerning women e.g. as temptresses, or as mothers of heroes. The book concludes with a brilliantly insightful consideration of the pros and cons of the story of the Garden of Eden, and woman's place in it. As Athalya writes in her final reflection, she intended in writing the book to fill in the gaps in Israelite history and the study of women in its literature. It succeeds beautifully.” –  Francis Landy, University of Alberta, Canada

 

In the first edition of The Israelite Woman Athalya Brenner-Idan provided the first book-length treatment by a feminist biblical scholar of the female characters in the Hebrew Bible. Now, thirty years later, Brenner provides a fresh take on this ground-breaking work, considering how scholarly observation of female biblical characters has changed and how it has not. Brenner-Idan also provides a new and highly personal introduction to the book, which details, perhaps surprisingly to present readers, what was at stake for female biblical scholars looking to engage honestly in the academic debate at the time in which the book was first written. This will make difficult reading for some, particularly those whose own views have not changed. - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-israelite-woman-9780567657732/#sthash.sPkkDHFZ.dpuf